Hear Me

by Julia North

  The wail of a police siren suddenly cuts through the air.

  ‘Fuck, I knew it,’ says Karlos, as the blue flashing light darts in his rear-view mirror. His knuckles tighten on the steering wheel. Tania cranes her neck to stare with narrowed eyes at the row of cars behind.

  ‘They’re chasing someone.’

  ‘Of course they’re fucking chasing someone,’ says Karlos with a snarl. ‘I just hope to fuck it’s not us.’

  Tania falls silent. She sits back in the seat, her eyes fixed on the side mirror. The blue flashing lights grow closer and the suddenly the wail of the siren is on them. Both Karlos and Tania stiffen as the police car swerves out to the side of them and then sails past.

  ‘Not us hey, boetie,’ says Tania. She breaks into ugly laughter and takes out a cigarette, but her fingers tremble as she lights it.

  Karlos lets out a long sigh of relief. His knuckles are still white around the steering wheel. ‘The sooner we get to Joey’s, the better.’

  ‘I don’t know why you thought it was us; stop being so paranoid.’

  ‘Fuck off,’ says Karlos.

  They carry on driving in silence along the N2 with Fletcher three cars behind. Karlos continues to glance in the rear-view mirror and I see his eyes linger for a few seconds on the white Mazda.

  Tania settles back down in the seat and turns up the radio. She closes her eyes but then opens them quickly as Karlos suddenly squeals the Golf down an exit. He races under the bridge and heads back onto the up ramp towards Durban.

  Tania turns to him with her mouth open. ‘And now?’

  ‘Shut the fuck up. There’s someone following us.’ Karlos speeds back down the freeway, his eyes flicking constantly to both his mirrors.

  Fletcher hits his steering wheel in frustration. He’s missed the off ramp Karlos has taken and it’s a good ten miles to the next one. Colombo is obviously not as good as I thought he was. He pulls over to the emergency lane and takes out a cell phone, no doubt to give Elsa the bad news of his incompetence.

  I keep my eyes on Karlos as he continues down the freeway towards the Pinetown turn-off. He takes it and then swings my Golf under the bridge and heads back up towards Maritzburg.

  ‘Round and round the mulberry bush, the mulberry bush, the mulberry bush …’ sings Tania until Karlos turns to her and tells her to ‘Fucking shut up!’

  ‘Agh, well maybe this time we’ll make it.’

  Karlos turns to her and sneers. ‘This isn’t some joke. You’re lucky I’m driving. If it was you we’d be caught long ago.’

  ‘You really think someone was following?’ she says with a frown.

  ‘Of course someone was fucking following. I’m not stupid.’

  Tania swivels her head and looks down the snake of traffic behind them. ‘Ja, I know. I’m sorry. Agh, the sooner we get to Joey’s the better hey?’

  ‘I’m not stopping now until we’re there,’ says Karlos, putting his foot flat and screaming my Golf down the fast lane of the freeway.

  They travel on for about twenty minutes before another siren breaks through the air. Blue flashing lights dart in and out of the line of traffic behind them. Karlos glares into the rear-view mirror as a white police BMW draws closer and closer.

  ‘Agh, stop being so paranoid. They’re not after us,’ says Tania, punching Karlos playfully on the shoulder.

  ‘Fuck off,’ says Karlos. He looks back into the rear mirror and then turns pale as the police car pulls astride them but this time keeps pace. The policeman in the passenger seat dangles his arm out of the window and motions for them to pull over.

  Karlos keeps his eyes to the front and continues on for a few seconds more with the policeman shouting and gesturing angrily for him to pull over. The traffic behind slows to allow Karlos and the police to pull over to the hard shoulder. He stops but leaves the engine running. The police car halts in front of him. The siren wanes but the blue flashing light remains.

  ‘Let me talk,’ Karlos hisses to Tania.

  The two officers pace over to the Golf with wide steps, looking like two cowboys with their hands resting just above their weapons. Karlos lifts his eyebrows in feigned surprise as one of the officers points for him to wind down the window. ‘What can I do for you, officer?’

  ‘Mr Karlos Beukes?’ The officer has a thick Afrikaans accent.

  Karlos’ eyes widen. He swallows before replying, ‘Ja?’

  ‘Have you been staying in room 501 of the Maharani Hotel?’

  Tania’s eyes dart to Karlos and I see her hands tremble. Karlos looks stonily at the officer. ‘Ja, we’re staying there. What’s the problem?’

  The police officer smirks. ‘The problem is payment.’

  Karlos snorts. ‘We’re still staying there. What must I pay for?’ He touches his throat with his thick fingers and keeps his eyes fixed on the officer’s face before giving him a wide smile. ‘Agh, officer, I think this is all a big misunderstanding. We’re not leaving anywhere. We’re just having a drive.’

  Tania leans over towards the officer. ‘Ja, I just wanted to go to the Rob Roy Hotel for afternoon tea, officer. I asked my brother to take me.’

  The officer ignores her. ‘Please open the boot.’

  Karlos clenches his jaw and throws open the driver’s door. He stomps over to the boot and clicks it open. The officer eyes the suitcases. He takes out a notebook and pulls a pen from his shirt pocket. ‘Can I have your licence?’

  Karlos rummages in the cubbyhole for his licence, his face set in an angry sneer. ‘This is bloody ridiculous,’ he says. ‘I told you we’re only having an afternoon drive. There is no evidence that we’re running away and anyway they’ve got my credit card. This is just a frame-up. I want to phone my lawyer now.’

  The policeman scowls at Karlos but ignores his protestation as he hands the licence to his colleague. He looks down at it and scribbles something onto his pad. He turns to Tania. ‘Name please.’

  Tania’s voice is shaky. ‘Tania Beukes.’

  ‘Address?’

  ‘Maharani Hotel, room 501,’ says Karlos sarcastically. ‘My house is sold which is why we’re staying at the Maharani. I’ve got plenty money coming. I don’t need to run away from any hotel.’

  I tense at his use of possession for my house.

  ‘The credit card you’ve used is not yours,’ says the officer. He smirks at Karlos for a few seconds and then intones, ‘Karlos Beukes, I’m arresting you for alleged fraud against the Maharani Hotel. You have the right to remain silent but anything you say can and will be used in a court of law against you. You have the right to legal representation and if you cannot afford this the court will appoint this for you. Do you understand?’

  The second policeman takes out a pair of handcuffs.

  ‘This is ridiculous,’ shouts Karlos, ‘you have no grounds for this, none at all …’

  But the policeman click the cuffs onto him.

  Karlos falls silent, his eyes fixed in shock. The second officer pushes him towards the police car and shoves him onto the back seat. He eases himself into the front passenger seat and turns around, his eyes trained on Karlos like a German Shepard just waiting for him to make a move. His hand rests on the holster at his side.

  The first officer reads Tania the same caution. She stands ashen-faced in front and says nothing in reply. She whimpers as the cuffs click tight around her wrists and almost stumbles as the officer guides her into the back of the police car.

  Relief floods through me as I watch the blue light of the police car head back towards Durban.

  ‘I take back what I said about you, Mr Fletcher,’ I mouth silently. If and how the charge will hold I have no idea, but at least for now Elsa and Nat are safe.

  Chapter 47

  Elsa, Nat and Thabo sit silently in front of Mannie Govender. ‘We’ve traced one of the phone calls Beukes made from the hotel to someone in Kwa Mashu we suspect could be a middle man for contract killings. We arrested him yesterday and are working on him a
t the moment, but we don’t have enough to go on yet. Beukes maintains it was just a deal about buying a truck.’ Mannie Govender clears his throat. ‘Our suspicions are that he’s possibly behind this but we just don’t have enough proof yet.’

  ‘Have you confronted Karlos about Lissa’s murder?’ Elsa’s voice is tight.

  Inspector Govender frowns. ‘Alleged murder. Of course, but as I said before we don’t have enough evidence against him for anything at the moment other than the hotel fraud.’

  ‘And he knows that of course.’

  ‘He does, but he also knows we’re watching him. We’ve warned him that if anything happens to you two he’ll be first on our list. I think he’s got the message. It’s the best we can do at the moment.’

  ‘Checkmate,’ says Thabo with a smirk.

  Inspector Govender looks up at the wall clock and closes the brown paper file. Thabo scrapes back his chair. ‘Much appreciated, Mannie. I’ll wait to hear from you later.’

  ‘No problem. We’ll hopefully get a conviction for the fraud charge at least. We had to let him out on bail, but the case is fast-tracked for next Monday.’

  ‘Good man.’

  ‘No problem,’ says Govender.

  Thabo shakes his hand while Nat and Elsa leave the office in silence.

  Thabo catches up as they step out of the building into the hot midday sun. ‘I’ll be in the court on the Monday,’ says Thabo.

  Elsa giving him a hug. ‘That would be good, Thabo.’

  I let out a long sigh as I watch my sisters walk hand in hand to Elsa’s BMW. Their energy is tangibly different. The awful tension and ravaged grief has been smoothed at the edges and their shoulders are no longer hunched, nor are their eyes as shadowed by sadness.

  ‘We’ll go and tell Mom the good news, and then there’s just one more thing I want to look into,’ says Elsa.

  ***

  Later that afternoon Elsa sits at her dining-room table, a pile of bank statements strewn in front of her. She turns her head towards the passage. ‘Nat,’ she calls.

  ‘What?’

  ‘Major withdrawals from Lissa’s account were made at the Wild Coast Sun Casino both before and when Liss was in King Edward’s.’ Elsa stabs her forefinger down at the statements in a triumphant manner.

  Nat comes back into the dining room, ‘Before she went in?’

  Elsa nods. ‘He must’ve got access to her card somehow. The bastard was gambling away what money he could until he got his hands on the whole lot. We’d have to try and prove she knew nothing about it, but given that it includes the time she was in a coma, we could have a case.’

  I shake my head in disbelief at how naïve and trusting I was.

  ‘Phone Govender,’ says Nat, her voice raw with anger, ‘and the prosecutor.’

  ‘I will, but first I think I’m going to phone the Wild Coast Sun and ask who the hotel doctor is?’

  ‘Doctor?’

  Elsa narrows her blue eyes at Nat. ‘I just think that maybe, just maybe, Karlos paid him a visit.’

  Nat sits silently, clenched fists perched in front of her while Elsa gets the doctor’s name from the hotel. She scribbles it down and turns to Nat with wide eyes. ‘The doctor’s name is … Clark,’ she stumbles on the name.

  Nat’s mouth drops slightly open and mirrors mine. ‘Phone him quick,’ she says.

  Elsa asks to be put through and recounts the story to the doctor and then listens silently. ‘Yes, I’m a practising advocate. I’m investigating Mr Karlos Beukes,’ she says, turning to Nat and pulling an impatient face at his insistent questioning. She turns back to the phone and listens carefully, her face etched in a serious frown. ‘I see,’ she says after a while. ‘Could you please let me know the date of his visit and what you prescribed for him?’ She glances over to Nat and gives a small nod. ‘I see. Was that at his request?’ She nods again. ‘Well, thank you very much, doctor.’

  She clunks down the receiver and turns to Nat with a victorious smile. ‘Karlos saw him and asked for a script for Trithapon; he told the doctor he was a registered psychotic and had left his medication at home. The doctor said he was in quite a state and it all appeared genuine as Karlos could provide him with all the details he asked for so he gave it to him.’

  ‘When …?’

  ‘A week before Lissa’s fit.’

  Nat’s bottom lip trembles, ‘Oh Elsa, that means it was definitely him. Have we got enough to nail him now?’

  ‘I hope so. Govender can’t argue that it’s only circumstantial evidence now. I’ll demand he exhumes her body. I don’t care what it takes. I will see that fucking bastard rot in jail for what he’s done.’ Elsa clenches her jaw and snatches up the phone. ‘Inspector Govender, please, tell him it’s important,’ she says turning to Nat and giving her a thumbs-up.

  She speaks quickly to Govender but seconds later her smile fades. ‘Keep us up to date,’ she says before slamming down the receiver. ‘Karlos has skipped bail and done a runner. They think he’s in Joburg … they’ve alerted the police up there.’ Elsa stamps her foot. ‘Idiots – so much for them watching him.’

  ‘Damn them,’ says Nat. She pushes back her hair behind her ears as if she’s chasing away an irritating fly and asks angrily, ‘Why didn’t Govender tell us? When did he go?’

  ‘Yesterday apparently. I knew I should’ve kept Fletcher on his tail instead of relying on Govender.’ Elsa frowns and bites on her bottom lip.

  ‘I don’t believe this,’ says Nat with a shake of her head. ‘How useless can they be? How can they not be watching him?’

  Elsa gives a sardonic laugh. ‘It’s not a priority for them.’ She rubs her hand across her forehead. ‘Fuck it … I should have kept with my gut feel.’ She clenches her fist and pumps it through the air. ‘Damn, why didn’t I?’

  ‘Joburg’s an easy place to hide. Do you think they’ll find him up there? How do they even know he’s there?’ Nat’s voice rises in pitch with each frenzied question.

  ‘I’ll ask Fletcher to hunt him down and I want some answers from Govender. This is not good enough!’

  ‘Thabo will be furious,’ says Nat. ‘I really thought it was over at last.’

  ‘How could I be so fucking stupid.’ Elsa places a strand of blonde hair in her mouth and chews angrily.

  ‘Don’t berate yourself Els. You couldn’t have known he’d run.’

  ‘Of course I should have,’ snaps Elsa, spitting away the piece of hair. ‘The only thing we can hope for now is that maybe some Joburg hi-jackers will do our work for us and blow his fucking brains out.’

  The police guard patrolling outside Elsa’s front window pauses and looks through at them. Elsa glares at him and turns away.

  A long sigh shudders out of Nat. ‘I just want so badly to see him rot in jail.’

  Elsa looks at Nat in silence for a few minutes. ‘I’d prefer dead. Damn, I can’t believe they lost him. How much more incompetent can they get?’

  ‘Maybe they’ll get him if he tries something else up there.’

  ‘Maybe,’ says Elsa. ‘At least we know now it was him. What a cunning bastard. Must’ve tried to frame the psychotic patient all along. Probably preyed on vulnerable women in rehab. Wouldn’t surprise me if Liss isn’t the first one he’s killed for money.’

  ‘Me neither,’ says Nat. Her eyes fill with tears. ‘I wish we’d never talked her into going there.’

  Elsa nods. ‘Me too,’ she whispers, ‘but what’s done is done. I don’t think Liss would want us to be eaten up with guilt.’

  ‘I guess not,’ says Nat. ‘Why don’t you phone Mom and Yvonne and tell them? In some strange way, even though we haven’t caught him, it helps to know it was him.’

  ‘Yes, it does. I guess it gives a sense of closure.’ Elsa picks up her car keys. ‘Come, let’s go and tell them in person. I’m sure Mom needs a hug.’

  Chapter 48

  The next morning Nat and Elsa sit silently in Elsa’s lounge staring out through the open French
doors at the green manicured garden. The air outside is still and already its humidity is making its presence felt inside.

  ‘I had such a vivid experience of Liss speaking to me early this morning,’ says Nat, her tone wistful. ‘It was like she was right there with me.’

  Elsa stares at Nat without blinking as Nat continues, ‘I felt an electric shock paralyse me, and then clear as a bell I heard her say, Don’t worry Nat. I’m alright … I’m alright.’

  I smile to myself. I’m thankful that this time she could hear my voice.

  ‘Maybe it was her,’ says Elsa, her voice barely above a whisper.

  Nat’s eyes widen. ‘You mean that?’

  Elsa gives a sardonic laugh and shrugs her shoulders. ‘My rational mind can’t cope with it all any more; I’ve decided it’s easier to just go with the irrational.’

  ‘To me the irrational version is really the rational one,’ says Nat. She looks intently at Elsa. ‘I’m sure she really spoke to me. I’m sure of it. Mom phoned me this morning and said she had a dream last night where Liss spoke to her. I’m sure she’s visited us to say goodbye.’

  Elsa clears her throat before looking at Nat with a sheepish expression. ‘Actually, so did I …’

  Nat looks triumphant. ‘You see … I know it’s her, Els, I know it is. It’s got to be if we all had the same dream and heard her speak to us.’

  ‘I hope so,’ says Elsa, ‘It would be really good if she did.’

  Nat looks back out at the garden for a while before asking, ‘Do you think they’ll catch him?’

  Elsa shrugs. ‘I don’t know, but whatever, he’ll have to keep running, and I’m not going to stop looking.’

  ‘I guess, in a sense, a prison of the mind is probably worse,’ says Nat with an ironic smile.

  Elsa laughs. ‘Maybe. Anyway our formal contest of her will has a strong case. I’ll make sure he doesn’t get one cent from her estate.’

  ‘That would be good. I’m sure Liss would be happy if she knew.’ She falls silent for a few seconds and blinks rapidly before whispering, ‘She’ll always be with us, you know. I think about her every day, talk to her in my mind, tell her I love her and miss her and that’ll never change. No-one can take our memories away.’